Melanoma Brain Metastases Risk Reduced With Immune Checkpoint Treatment
Risk for brain metastases development increased in association with elevated plasma levels of S100B, higher metastatic stage
By Dermsquared Editorial Team | April 16, 2025
WEDNESDAY, April 16, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with advanced melanoma, immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment is associated with a reduced risk for melanoma brain metastases (MBM), according to a study published online April 11 in BJC Reports.
Anna Fager, M.D., from Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, and colleagues conducted a retrospective study involving patients diagnosed with advanced melanoma (unresectable stages III and IV [M1a-c]) between 2013 and 2019 to examine factors associated with MBM development.
Ninety-one of the 395 patients subsequently developed MBM. The researchers found that the risk for MBM development was reduced among patients who received an immune checkpoint inhibitor as first-line treatment. Of the 11 patients who received CTLA-4 inhibitors as monotherapy or in combination with PD-1 inhibitors as first-line treatment, none developed brain metastases. An increased risk for MBM development was seen in association with elevated plasma levels of S100B and higher metastatic stage.
"The potential prevention of MBM development as observed here is considered to be of major clinical benefit and warrants further investigations, providing additional data addressing brain metastases development in different populations and cohorts," the authors write.